Tale of Two Wolves
by SharkOfJade
Summary: There is a terrible war between two wolves inside everyone, including you and me. One wolf is all that is evil, cowardly, and sickening. The other is all that is good, kindhearted, and brave. Which wolf wins this war? Simple; the one that you feed. [Junpei centered two-shot. Set between Persona 3 and Persona 4 Arena 2. Contains Harsh Language and Dark Themes]
1. Chapter 1

**_A silent forest stirs_**

**_Dewdrops sleep on the endless blades of grass_**

**_All as the land was within the thickest of fog, _**

**_a very cloud resting on the earth._**

**_Within this mist, _**

**_a wolf with fur white as the purest snow, _**

**_trekked through the haze, _**

**_snout raised high in the moist air._**

**_It was a forest brimming with beauty,_**

**_but whenever the fog rolled in, all of its splendor, _**

**_even the shining sun, _**

**_vanished into no more than murk._**

**_A snarl soon carried through the misty woodland._**

**_The white wolf's ears perked, its cerulean eyes widening._**

**_With just a turn of the head, it could see another wolf. _**

**_One in the very spitting image of itself, _**

**_but with fur as black as the Reaper's robe, _**

**_and bloodshot eyes that stared it down._**

**_The white wolf throat emanated a low growl, _**

**_sending a glare right back to the black wolf._**

**_The black wolf took a running start with an open maw, _**

**_while the white wolf was ready to leap, _**

**_its tail up in the air like a rattlesnake's._**

**_The first lunge, teeth baring all the way._**

**_Fresh blood spilled on the dewy grass._**

* * *

_April 29, 2009_

'_Junpei, I know you check your phone. I want to ask; will you come home for the holidays?'_

_Deleted._

_July 18, 2009_

'_Look Jun, I'm aware you're upset with me, but you can spare your dear old dad at one visit?'_

_Deleted._

_August 20, 2009_

'…_Junpei, will you come back home at least once? I miss you._

_I really do.'_

_Deleted._

How long had it been, two years since Junpei had moved into the dorm for his business of shadow slaying?

It felt longer than that on the weekends, but shorter on the weekdays. Especially when the young man and his colorful personality had the senior year of high school sneak right up on him. By that point, the days mainly consisted of school projects, sleepless study nights, and the sweet release of weekends.

Because of all that, paying his father a visit was usually the last thing on Junpei's mind, if it was even on his mind at all.

After what happened to his mother when he was still learning times tables, his dear old dad resorted to drinking alcohol to quell the heartache of the memory. Be it heavy and foaming rum, or shoddy cooking wine, he chugged it all down like a piece o' shit teacher on a Saturday night.

Needless to say, things had definitely soured between them because of that. While his pop's automatic reaction to a problem was to kill enough brain cells so that he'd forget about it, his only child was practically stuck on his own. Unless Iori-san himself decided to do a little 'physical discipline', that is.

As such, when the high-tier Gekkoukan Seniors, Mitsuru and Akihiko themselves, requested the utter clown of a junior to move into the dorm to assist in delivering the occasional ass-kicking to shadows, it was like a black raincloud has just lifted away from his life. Like he could finally forget about his douchebag of a drunkard dad and live the life of a gamer, shadow slayer, and a ladies' man at once. Three for the price of one!

If life came equipped with a difficulty setting that could be scrolled down to 'Piss Easy', that would be it.

Thing is, there's one lesson that just about everyone learns at some point: The more you try to wipe the stain of a memory from your mind, the bigger and uglier it looks in the end. From asshole peers to asshole teachers to asshole antichrists to asshole assholes, all of it only made the presence of his father spread; from within the dorm, to within the school, and most prominently, within Junpei himself.

Graduation at Gekkoukan certainly wasn't an improvement either, not with the apparent death of his best bud. It was like every time Junpei attempted to get out of the ditch he realized he was stuck in, the dirt just crumbled and slid him right back to the bottom with a new coat of dog shit brown to top it all off.

A few days later, at exactly eight in the morning, the familiar 'pi pi pi' of his phone flew right into his ears. With a flick of his wrist the phone snapped open to display a text.

'_Junpei, I want to let ya know. I didn't drink a single can o' booze today. I swear I'm telling the truth.'_

A single text message can say a lot of things, but there's also a lot that it can't say. One of the biggest ones that it's completely mute about is the truth. The old man could've just slept on his phone and that'd probably be more believable. This should just be another press of the Delete button, no?

His thumb stopped, right above the capital D.

Junpei sighed, in the style Yukari typically does.

'_Good for you'_

_Sent._

He snapped the phone shut again, with the sound of a crocodile's jaw biting down. What was the point of replying when the phone had a better chance of winding up in his dad's butt crack than it did actually being answered? That's the real mystery here.

* * *

_March 10, 2010_

'_Hey Junny boy! Guess what! Just one case went down this whole week! Whaddya think now huh?'_

'_I told ya to stop calling me Junny boy old man -_-'_

_Sent._

'_Haha! You're using those emoti-thingies too? That's fucking adorable! Where'd ya learn it, from the other students sucking ass in their grades?'_

A scowl soon stretched across his face, like the skin of three day old roadkill stretched out on the road. "Whole case went down this week alright…"

_Deleted._

_March 31, 2010_

'_Hey Junpei! You ready to meet up at Wild Duck Burger for a bite?'_

'_No. Today's too special of a day for me to leave the dorm.'_

_Sent._

'…_Oh. Right. That run-down dorm you've been living in these days… it's closing down today, ain't it?'_

A low growl rippled in Junpei's throat, upon the sight of the words 'run-down'.

_Deleted._

"Old man wouldn't know what run-down meant if it hit 'im with a fucking truck…" He grumbled, staring into the empty Messages page of his phone, leaning against the cold tile walls.

"Junpei, are you finished 'staining the urinals' by now?" Said a familiarly robotic voice, alongside three knocks. Two of those were from outside the door, while the third was from Junpei's skull accidentally slamming right into one of the tiles as his head jolted up from the tiny screen and keyboard.

"A-Ai-chan!? Where the hell did you learn a phrase like that?!" Junpei exclaimed with a voice just as shaky as the moment he flirted with Aigis, along with a set of fingers pressed against the back of his cranium.

"W-well…" Even Aigis' normally stable voice began to stutter. "Yukari-san typically uses that term with you when you're in the restroom, so-"

"Okay okay, that's all I need to know." Junpei interrupted with a wry smile.

-xxx-

_April 1, 2010_

'_Junny boy? Ya still there? Is that reunion ya were blabbering about finally done and over with?'_

A sigh emerged outright instantly, followed by the immediate urge to delete it.

…Despite everything that just happened in the Abyss of Time…

'_Actually, the dorm just reopened today and they're still allowing me to stay there for my Senior year.'_

_Sent._

'…_Oh. …I see. I thought for a second there that you'd finally come home…'_

'_Dad, it's closer to the school. S'not like I just moved to friggin Okinawa.'_

_Sent._

'…_Did you just refer to me as 'Dad'?'_

Junpei went wide-eyed and flipped his phone closed right away with a short flick of the wrist. He coughed into his fist as his face had a tickle of red across it. Ever since his old home developed the mist of booze in it, Junpei had full on stopped calling his old man 'Dad'.

Why did it slip out like that just now?

* * *

_March 5, 2011_

Here came the chills down the spine with a side of butterflies frolicking in the stomach. You know, the typical reaction to a high school graduation. If it wasn't the bubbling anxiety from being put on show to be a good example to the home of a four-year routine, it was the uniform that felt as constricting as a hungry anaconda around the neck.

Junpei let out a shaky sigh for the thousandth time, checked himself in the mirror for the millionth time, and checked the digital clock on his phone for the billionth time. A single message was displayed.

'_Dad, today's my graduation. If you're going to come, don't booze up before driving to the school okay?'_

_Sent._

No response.

"Junpei-kun, only 5 minutes left until the School Graduation starts!" An all-too familiar petite voice said right outside the door to Class 2-A. "Are you feeling alright?"

Junpei's head instantly shot up, away from the small screen. "O-oh! Yeah I'm fine Fuuka-tan!" He answered with a nervous laugh underneath his voice. "Sorry, just ain't used to wearing this uniform in such a fancy way y'know?" A typical chuckle followed.

"Well… alright then, but are you ready to come out and join the others now?" Fuuka asked in a calm tone.

"Ah, of course!" Junpei replied cheerfully, giving the collar on his uniform one last tug before rushing out the door to join his friends.

The Graduation went pretty damn well. The food tasted great, the underclassmen were supportive, and only a little bit of blood trickled down the bathroom walls when the new 'graduate' of Gekkoukan slammed his fist right into it, yelling bits and pieces about a 'stupid old fucker'.

* * *

**_Even the slightest breath could be seen in this freezing fog._**

**_Amongst the snapping and tearing of flesh_**

**_it emulated wisps of smoke _**

**_from the bloodstained jaws of a wolf._**

**_The treetops disappeared in the mist, as did the faint light of day, _**

**_but their fight still continued, even in the dampened scarlet grass._**

**_The black wolf was nearly rendered one-eyed from a bite to the face, _**

**_its muzzle was bloody to the touch and hairless from the scars, _**

**_and one paw now only had three toes and a tiny stub gushing constant claret._**

**_The white wolf however, could barely even stand. _**

**_Beads of crimson fell from its matted fur, _**

**_a skinless patch protruded from the wolf's cheek,_**

**_alongside an underbelly that was raked with the worst of gashes and fang marks._**

**_Even now, the black wolf's teeth slowly sunk into the white one's neck_**

**_with streams of sanguine seeping out and dripping from the fur._**

**_With a swift snap of the head, _**

**_the black wolf tossed the white wolf to the side_**

**_leaving it to bleed and suffer_**

**_To which the black wolf let out a horse howl_**

**_into the lightless sky_**

**_as the fog consumed all but the grass right below the wolf's paws._**

* * *

_March 6, 2011_

'_What the shit!? Your graduation was yesterday? Dammit, I'm sorry Junny boy, I must've fell asleep…'_

'_By fell asleep, you mean you got shitfaced again?'_

_Sent._

'…_Junpei, I know you hate me for drinking. Trust me, I hate myself for it too. But I swear that I've been cutting back on it lately. Hell, I been keeping track just for your sake, and it was only 3 cases this entire month!'_

'_If you really knew what 'hate' meant, than you'd know how much I hate being your fuckin crotch fruit!'_

_Sent._

A groan escaped his lips, topped with half-shut eyes. Rap lyrics echoed in his skull from the buds that were nearly glued into his ears, hard-wired to the lone MP3 player still sitting in his pocket. All the while, Junpei just laid on the bed, staring into the home page of his phone; his pupils occasionally tilting up to the ceiling, reminiscent of a pale white pallet.

He sat up, no doubt wrinkling the sheets for the bajillionth time by now. A quick swivel of his head swept his view to the table beside his bed. Atop his cluttered mess of manga volumes and pieces of broken Featherman figures lay his graduation papers, alongside a framed photo of himself and the girls, smiling like they were at Yakushima again.

That's when his mind buzzed around with memories of the multiple incidents that went on in this old dorm; ranging from the sound of Yukari's despair of Junpei being a persona user, to meeting Aigis' adorable as heck 'sister', and everything in-between, prompting a smirk from the eighteen year-old.

But it soon disappeared, once he remembered one important detail: He couldn't live here anymore.

Why would a Gekkoukan graduate still be living at a school dorm after all? A weary sigh emerged as he reluctantly lowered an arm underneath his bed, pulling out a wheeled duffel bag, with only an empty suitcase inside it.

* * *

_March 7, 2011_

Junpei nearly dropped his entire luggage on the first sight.

In front of the apartment complex a whole crowd of people had gathered, clogging up the main entrance, with an ambulance right behind them all on the road.

"You didn't hear? Someone on the second floor of the complex committed suicide just a few hours ago!" A middle-aged woman exclaimed, followed by a young man. "Yeah, in the third apartment!"

"…Second Floor? Third ro- Wait..!" Junpei wasted no time squirming his way through the horde of gathered people, trying to reach whatever the hell was going on in front of the main gates.

When he finally reached the very front of the gates he immediately saw two men, clad in all white, rolling out a corpse covered by a pale sheet, except for one part; a single hand, slipping off the roller. The fingers were still dripping blood.

Junpei couldn't move.

He couldn't speak.

He couldn't even breathe.

He just stood, his eyes appearing dead in their sockets, his arms falling down right to his sides, dropping his suitcase right on the hard sidewalk, deaf to the sound of it hitting the concrete. Everyone around him took two steps back and stared. All the while, the body was rolled into the ambulance as the sirens went off, almost echoing as the vehicle drove away.

* * *

It was nighttime now, thanks to how long the police took in keeping the apartment clean of anything that'd make it look like a setting in a murder mystery novel.

Junpei swallowed hard, feeling his hands nearly go numb from just looking at both the doorknob, and the scratch marks that tore the paint right off; no doubt from a crowbar by the looks of it.

Still, Junpei couldn't just stand out in the hall all night. He fished around in his pocket and pulled out a small key holder in the shape of a cute little pig that stored his house key.

With a deep breath, he slowly unlocked the door and opened it as the hinges creaked like it was a haunted house.

Past the door was a small hallway that led to every other room. Pitch black too, not only because of the time, but also the lack of lights that were installed into the walls. Instead of lamps there were hooks and nails leftover from all the framed pictures that used to be hung up.

As Junpei took his first few steps in, he hung the key holder on one of the various hooks in place, walking right through while wheeling in his luggage right behind him, as he observed how the old place was still holding up with a flick of a light switch.

Like always, there were cans of beer scattered on the floors, all in the least convenient of places. All of the marks and stains on the walls still remained, coming from the many beer bottles that were broken, and nearly used for some effed-up things throughout the years. In fact, the place that was probably the cleanest of all was the ceiling.

Junpei stopped now, reaching his old bedroom. Considering how many times his old man had yelled in his ear before he left to stay at the dorm, it's a miracle that the door to his room is even standing.

He started opening it up, letting the light creep into the bedroom, but once it hit a certain part of the floor, Junpei's face went pale, and he immediately shut the door right back up, complete with a slam that could wake up a neighbor.

Even after the intense examination the police did, there was no mistaking what was on the wooden floor.

A dried up blood stain.

After a few silent seconds, the capped graduate just barely recovered himself, flipped the light switch off, meandered to the box of a living room the place had, and flopped on the only comfortable place to sleep now: The couch.

Junpei let out a hefty sigh. Even though his body was tired from all the shit that went on today, his mind was zipping about left and right, and only made him less capable of falling asleep than standing up on his feet.

As such, there was only one thing left now. Junpei now stood back up and reached for his suitcase. He popped it right open and grabbed the very first thing that could be seen within: His MP3 player and ear buds.

Plugging them firmly into his ears, he let the little device rest in his palm before swiftly pressing the shuffle button and let it pick a song.

"_No matter what,"_

Junpei's eyes widened.

He yanked his buds right back out and let the player drop right back into the suitcase, while he laid right down on the couch, ready to fall asleep during at least some point. Despite it though, the music still wove its way through the ear buds.

"_Life is so damn beautiful..."_

"_Everything comes back in a circle"_

His hands clenched hard and tight onto his clothing, while pressing his skull right on the couch arm, just to help block out the song.

"_Rise and fall, once again it's a circle…"_

"_Unexpected things happen but life goes on"_

His teeth were clenched, as were his eyes, and it was near impossible to stop shaking.

"_Life is so damn beautiful"_

"_No matter what, life is so damn beautiful…"_

* * *

_March 28, 2011_

"So Yukari-chan, what made you decide to choose modeling as your career then?" The petite and soothing voice of Fuuka Yamagishi asked, while twirling a french fry in her fingers in the middle of the ever-so nostalgic, Wild Duck Burger.

Her current companion and best bud, Yukari Takeba, let out a chuckle. "Well, I just figured that-"

"Whaddya want me to do, magically reverse physics and make the ice freaking float?"

Both Yukari and Fuuka's eyes widened, recognizing the clearly aggravated voice from the counter.

"Hey, all I know was that I ordered a soft drink with ice on th' bottom! Or are ya just too deaf and dumb to hear me?" From one side of the counter, someone -who clearly looked to be a quote unquote 'customer'-, complaining about an order.

"Th' fuck did you say to me!?" The attendant snapped back, he even attempted to lash out at him, only being held back by the other clerks from doing so.

There was no mistaking it; the sound of the attendant's voice, his goatee, and the way he kept his short hair in a hat…

That was Junpei.

The rude customer naturally flinched right back at the attendant's violent behavior. He uncapped the drink in his hands and splashed it right on Junpei's face, causing him to yell aloud and immediately pressed against the sting in his eyes.

While the employees backed away, the customer slammed his cup into the floor and bolted out of the restaurant, Yukari and Fuuka both looked in disarray at what just happened.

* * *

In the men's bathroom Junpei stood in front of one of the mirrors, ruffling his short strands of hair with, for lack of a better term, a shitton of paper towels to get the glucose out.

He let out a sigh, seeing all the other employees in the mirror that clearly tried to keep their distance while they went take a dump. In short; another job down the tubes. Then came a few moderate knocks on the door.

"Junpei-kun? Are you still in there?"

He froze; swollen red eyes wide open, accompanied by a nervous gulp.

Then came a set of harder knocks.

"Junpei, if Fuuka can tell you're in there even without her Persona, then she's right you know."

'Crap! What're they both doing here?' Junpei could already hear himself asking as the sweat already started trickling down his face alongside all the extra sugar. After all, who the hell would want one of their most embarrassing moments to be seen by their high school buddies on top of it?

That's when the bathroom door opened regardless, showing a stern Yukari, and a distressed Fuuka.

That of which caused a 'freaked-out-as-fuck' Junpei, complete with a backwards flinch and even a surprised yelp.

"Uhh, hi guys…" He replied after his initial shock, softly laughing fairly nervously despite his smile and utterly drenched clothes.

"Junpei-kun!" Fuuka instantly raised a hand to her mouth and bolted right in (Despite it being for a certain sex), pulling out a small handkerchief to help clean his face. "Are you alright? I saw what happened back at the front counter and-oh dear! Your eyes are already red!"

"Heh…" Junpei couldn't help but let out a rather mournful half of a chuckle as a response. "I take it you were both there to see me make a total ass of myself huh?"

"More like find out where the hell you've been this whole time to begin with." Yukari stated aloud, with her eyes currently as sharp as a pair of daggers. "What're you doing at a dump like this? Weren't you going to find a college to enroll into?"

A low and dry laugh came out of Junpei as the first response. "…Heh, you say that like I actually have a chance of even getting into any college from the start." The second was but a weary smile. "Besides, this is still my gap year, so it's only natural that I'm stuck squirming for a job."

As Fuuka lowered the handkerchief with a despondent frown, Yukari's eyes narrowed, sharpening the daggers even more now.

"…This is about when your father committed suicide back in March, isn't it?"

Junpei's grin couldn't have disappeared any sooner, to be replaced by the widest of red eyes.

"How in the hell did you hear about that?"

The brunette faintly sighed, followed by a quick flick of her finely cut hair. "It was reported in the news when it happened, remember?"

Fuuka nodded in response. "We were going to call to help out with any problems that had arisen…"

"But Mitsuru and Akihiko-senpai decided it wouldn't be the best idea, given the relationship you had with your fath-"

"Stop mentioning that old fuck in front of me!" Junpei yelled right out loud, slamming his fist into the countertop and gritting his teeth as his eyes threw a fierce, crimson glare.

Both the petite Fuuka and bold Yukari instantly took at least three steps back, already feeling their hearts pound against their ribcages from an exclamation like that. Fuuka was already on the verge of tears from it, especially given how close she was to her former classmate, while even Yukari had the closest look possible to sheer shock.

Junpei's glare dissolved, leaving him with wide eyes full of mortification and a trembling fist and pair of legs.

"I… I'm sorry, I…" He instantly looked down, as if his own skull became as heavy as lead. "I swear I didn't mean to snap like that, I just..."

"Lost control… Is that how you were going to put it?" Yukari replied, with an empathic tone in her voice.

Junpei looked back up for a brief minute, seeing the oddly mournful grimace on Yukari's face after she asked that. In next to no time after seeing her like that, the one hand he had on that countertop slipped down to his side and his entire body stood tall and still, like a tree that could fall over at any millisecond.

"Yeah… To put it frankly..." A small 'tch' slipped right out underneath his breath, as his hands tightened right back into his fists, and hard enough to dig into his palms.

"Junpei-kun…" As Fuuka fought the urge to hug the poor guy (at the risk of invading his personal space; something he clearly needed right now), Yukari recovered the stern look in her eyes and, swiftly pulling something from her back pocket, walked right up to her old comrade.

"Here." She stopped right within arm length and held out what she had taken from her pocket; a small silver card. Junpei's eyes perked open in a bit of a jolt, with one hand almost automatically taking a hold of it. On the card, there was a combination of numbers that spelled out a phone number, letters that showed a name and address, and… a brown rat on the top corner?

"If there's any time that you could use a therapist to help get yourself together, I'm pretty sure it's now." Yukari responded with a simple smile, while Junpei just simply looked back up with a perplexed look stretched all across his face.

"Well, uh… Thanks, I guess." He answered back, with more than enough hesitation topped on his words. Mainly because…well, who's actually ever excited about checking themselves into therapy?

"Junpei-kun, we're not trying to say that you're insane, we're trying to say that you need someone to give you proper assistance, okay?" Fuuka said as she fixed her posture and fully stood up now, complete with her face reflecting Yukari's previous no-nonsense look.

Junpei couldn't resist smiling at that, albeit rather pathetically, with a small chuckle hidden in his throat as well.

"Well, I need to go get my ass fired now…" He muttered along to the both of them, walking past them with his eyes still gazing closer upon the floor than to their eyes, and both of his hands in his pockets. He opened the door, and took one step out, before tilting his head back a bit. "By the way, shouldn't you two get out of the guys' bathroom too?"

Cue the girls going blindingly red in the face, and scooting right out the restroom themselves.

All the while the goateed graduate couldn't help but snicker.

"Agh! Stupei you jackass!" Yukari blurted right out as if it were a time warp to 2009, complete with a steaming red face and yelling right into his ears. Despite the assault on his eardrums though, Junpei just kept on laughing even harder. Even Fuuka started to chuckle a bit herself, while Yukari just became more flustered than ever.

"What the heck's so funny now?"

"It's been a long time since you've scolded me like that, hasn't it Yuka-tan?" Junpei said, sporting a nostalgic smirk.

Once Yukari heard that, she grew a soft smile on her own face, instantly remembering the times they both shared of their nonsensical bicker as high school students.

"Oh shut it Mr. Ace Defective." She answered along with a slap on his back, this time her own voice hiding a laugh. Junpei let out another laugh of his own at that, before it quickly faded, and left only a bitter smile as he now walked down the hallway of the ugliest of bright wallpaper.

"…Yukari-chan, are you sure Junpei-kun will be alright? I know he's not the type to go along with something like therapy that easily…" Fuuka asked to her college friend with a worried expression, already grasping one hand of hers around the other, and both of them resting above her heart.

In response, Yukari showed a calm simper. "Heh… If he's anything like how I used to be, he'll call her in no time. Don't worry, 'kay?" She replied in quite the gentle tone, giving a one-armed hug right atop Fuuka's shoulders, which allowed the shorter college student to regain a grin, along with a small laugh to herself.

* * *

"AAH! Okay, too cold."

One small turn of the shower knob.

"OH SHIT! TOO HOT NOW!"

An even smaller turn down to the millimeters.

"Phew, okay finally…" Junpei sighed out in the truest of relief, now that Satan wasn't in there and pissing on his back anymore and he could have a proper shower. For as shitty of a state his old man kept the rest of his own bedroom in, at least the bathroom still worked.

Rubbing his scalp in circles, while letting the water wash out the buzz cut head of hair he still had, Junpei could already feel the various memories of this day fly around in his brain, like bees in a hive. Not only from the near deafening scolding from his former boss for the obvious, but also his former shadow-slaying partners.

Therapy typically meant that someone was going nuts, didn't it? So why risk looking like a psycho? Plus, therapists aren't usually the type to work for dirt cheap, and the absolute last thing needed right now was financial issues. On top of it all, what would talking to someone actually solve? Would therapy instantly give him a steady job? Would it find a college that didn't automatically kick him out because of his crap grades? Would it refurnish his crummy apartment?

"I'm not lettin' no son of mine waste time and money to have a fuckin' cheerleader!"

Junpei froze. His fingers pressing against his skull as his eyes widened without a blink. There was no denying it, that was his Dad's voice that just popped in his head, replying just as he would if he heard about the therapy suggestion.

After a few seconds of the shower water washing off the shit all over his skin, Junpei's body had lost most of the tension it had when his old man rung in his mind. His arms slumped down to his sides, all the while his hands nearly felt numb. Soon afterwards, his eyes going from widened and stunned, to no more than a forlorn gaze.

Once a minute had passed, Junpei turned off the shower and stepped out onto a spare towel that was spread out on the bathroom floor– His dad was too cheap to even get a new bathroom rug. He pulled down another one that was hung up on the rack. With it, he dried himself off, twice, trying to make sure that not a square inch of his body had even a droplet left.

Clad in only a towel around the waist now, Junpei sank right into his current sleeping space, otherwise known as a couch, and let out another hefty sigh, just from all the events from today still circling around in his brain.

His eyes took a quick glaze down on the small table in front of him, seeing both his cell and the card Yukari had given him after his Wild Duck screw-up.

Junpei then tilted his head back, looking up at the ceiling, as his thoughts began to simmer once again.

At the end of it all, there were two choices to make about this whole 'therapy' idea.

One: forget about it, and end up in the same rut of the 'Nowhere To Go Club'.

Two: Take a risk, and try it out.

Junpei sat back up in his seat, with a groan rustled in his voice box as he saw his phone again. His hand began to lift up from simply resting on the couch, and closer to-

_Pi Pi Pi!_

A sudden jolt went through Junpei as the phone started to ring. With only a brief second of hesitation, he now picked his cell up, and flipped it right open. "Uh, hello?"

"Greetings to you as well Iori." An all too familiar and elegant voice said on the other end of the line.

Junpei could already a rather literal chill down his spine, just from hearing the head of the Kirijo Group, and the leader of his old, quote unquote, school club from his late high school years; Mitsuru Kirijo.

"M-Mitsuru-senpai?" He practically murmured into the receiver. "Why are you calling? Has something Shadow-related popped up again?"

Upon asking that, he heard a faint chuckle on the other end. "Well to put it simply, yes and no. I heard from Takeba and Yamigishi that you were struggling to find a job recently."

"Yeah, don't remind me…" The former SEES member said with a slump of his shoulders and a noticeable groan in his tone.

"It looks like Takeba wasn't exaggerating either." Mitsuru responded with a faint laugh that faded away into the no-nonsense type of articulation she was known for. "Anyway, I want you to meet up with the old dorm again to go over the details of a possible employment."

"Wait, what?"

"Arrive at noon on the dot next week. Don't be late." Just like that, the call ended, leaving only a beep. Once Junpei heard it repeating, he flipped his phone closed again and sat still for a moment to wonder what the heck just happened there.

He picked up the card on the table and a swift flick of his wrist opened his cell right back up again.

* * *

April 1, 2010

"Welcome to Hiiragi Therapy sir. How can I help you today?" A female attendant asked in the typical polite shopkeeper voice, standing behind a counter.

Junpei resisted the urge to let a groan out, noticing the prim and proper style of the waiting room. Something of a red flag next to the fact that the entire place was located in a small creak of Iwatodai, away from the typical areas he had memorized.

"I'm here for an appointment." He replied, thankfully without any sign of escalation into a yell this time. "With…Sonomura is it?" Junpei commented with an obvious question mark, reading off of the card after pulling it out of his pocket.

"Ah! You must be Maki-san's newest client who called in three days ago!" The attendant practically shouted aloud in the cutesy high school girl type of joy. "You can go right on ahead into the first door on the right; she's all set up and ready now." She said with one heck of a cheery grin.

Junpei simply closed his eyes with an irritated squint and walked to the door he was told, opening it swiftly.

Once he did, his eyes opened right back up, and widened as well.

The first thing that captured Junpei's attention was the room. His first expectation was for it to be the typical blinding white hospital ward, with only a table and a couple chairs to complete the sensation of being studied and examined. The second expectation was a tiny one-student classroom, complete with the uncomfortable chair and desk combo to bring back the memories of Mr. Edoka yelling at him about wasting time in class for a solid half an hour.

This place looked like a living room ripped right from a fairytale dollhouse, with framed photos covering the walls of faint lime green and standing by the windowsills, appearing to be of a high school, Aoba Park, and group pictures with good friends. The air was warm, like being enveloped in a fresh blanket, and the scent of incense wafted in it too. A rug that was filled with exotic patterning covered the entire floor and there was even a stone fireplace tucked in the corner of the room, with a bookcase that was as tall as Akihiko standing on his tiptoes. The top shelves were filled with natural self-improvement books and like, the lowest contained all kinds of colorful children's books, while the middle shelves were packed with dolls and stuffed animals. The one standing out in the front and caught the eye the fastest was a robot doll right from Featherman, that could possibly transform into a hazel-colored rat.

In the middle of the room, sitting in one of two cozy leather chairs, a young woman with a beauty mark right under her lower lip seemed to be writing something down on a notepad. She also had a bowlcut hairstyle, a pale coat with gray intersecting lines on it, over a silver shirt and matching skirt, along with black leggings and bright white boots. When she looked up and saw her current client, a welcoming smile grew on her attractive face.

"Why hello, you must be Junpei. Please come on in and take a seat, won't you?" She gestured her hand to the couch in front of her, which was big enough to have three people sit on it. Junpei just nodded, and managed to walk inside enough of the room to sit down on the couch, and even sinking into it. The woman still kept her gentle air.

"Now then, why don't you introduce yourself?"

That question instantly made Junpei raise an eyebrow. "Didn't you already say my name two seconds ago?"

She let out a small laugh as a response. "Yes, but I'm not hoping to hear more about your name, I'm hoping to hear more about yourself."

"Well… I'm Junpei Iori, I'm a graduate from Gekkoukan High School and I'm currently taking a gap year to have an excuse for not managing to find a college that I'm smart enough to attend right after my high school years." A bitter sounding chuckle immediately came out of Junpei's mouth once he finished that sentence. "I also have no talent in any kind of useful shit-Ah!" A fist came right up to cover his mouth. "S-sorry Miss, I didn't mean to…"

The woman however, just grinned again. "It's fucking okay Junpei. Also, Miss is far too formal; just call me Maki, okay?" Now that was a word Junpei never expected to hear from a therapist.

"Uh… thanks then, Maki-san." He couldn't help but smirk at that, while holding in a giggle.

"Now that's better." Maki smiled, seeing Junpei's expression finally change for once. "I myself had originally started off as a psychiatrist's assistant back in Sumaru City, but after I became a certified therapist, I moved to Iwatodai due to my main business shifting locations."

"Eh? Sumaru City?" The name rang a little bell in Junpei's head, but only let out about one or two rings. "Isn't that the city-"

"Where a series of mysterious incidents occurred one after the other that supposedly involved a serial killer and the Mafia? Yeah, that's the place." Maki immediately said aloud, sporting the exact same type of smart aleck face Junpei typically has when informing a new Persona-user of the events including towers and Witching hours a few years back.

"Heheh, I gotcha now." He chuckled as his voice began to perk up now.

"Now then Junpei, what kind of problems have arisen to make you think that you're talentless?" Miss Sonomura asked, clearly showing that she hadn't forgotten Junpei's introduction. The capped teen's smile soon faded away and he let out a breath.

"You mean aside from all the jobs I've been fired from so far in my attempt to not starve to death?" Maki nodded, without interrupting or responding. "…It especially doesn't help that I'm currently stuck in my old man's apartment, which makes the dorm I stayed at in my high school years look like a fucking mansion." He continued on near instinctively, now releasing a groan.

She nodded again, her eyes not wavering a single inch away from him.

"Especially when practically everyone I run into is annoying as hell and…!" Junpei grabbed the top of his head, already scrunching up his hat and gritting his teeth out of sheer frustration now, as the rest of his words dialed down to mere grumbling.

Maki once again responded with a nod, as her eyes had a gaze of sympathy. "It's no wonder you seem so on edge, having to deal with all of that."

"Heh, at least you're more understanding than most of my former bosses." His reply came out with a small chuckle, but not even so much as a smirk to go along with it. "Hell, even with some of my old pals from high school trying to help me get employed, I just know for a fact I'll get canned again." Junpei groaned a bit, resting an arm on his leg to hold up his head.

Miss Sonomura could notice the lack of self-esteem from a mile away at this point. "Know for a fact? Do you typically load yourself with that much skepticism when looking for a job?"

"You're asking me that as if I haven't gotten kicked out for losing my shit already." An all too deadpan stare of sheer sarcasm, attached to Junpei's face, replied.

"What made you lose your shit then?" She asked calmly, despite her language.

"Some asshole at Wild Duck Burger who didn't know basic physics and wanted his ice to float on the bottom of his drink." He responded in half a second, as if he was asked what two plus two equaled. "Who then threw his soda right into my face and stung the crap outta my eyes."

Maki let out a hiss from hearting that, just knowing that a soft drink to the eyes must've hurt like hell. "So it's a problem with dealing with obnoxious people at work then."

"On the nose." Junpei said. "Hell, the only people I get along with days are the pals I had back in high school, and of course, they're all off in college." A sigh that easily mixed both weariness and irritation came out of Junpei's lips again, before taking in a small breath "Even with Mitsuru-senpai mentioning a possible employment for me, I just know that-"

"Wait a tick…" Maki blurted aloud, immediately stopping Junpei's rambling, right before a smirk came upon her face. "Did you just say that you found a chance to be employed? Doesn't that mean you could have found a job?"

Junpei's eyes instantly widened back up, as a drop of sweat rolled down. "Uh, well, um…" He stuttered out, as his tone of sheer embarrassment coated every one of his words. "Well, I have a good chance of not even making the cut, ya know?"

"Trust me Junpei, I know." Maki stated with a nod of her head, but no hesitation or even sorrow in her words, as her eyes had a stern glare to them to show that she meant business. "But will becoming anxious and constantly putting yourself down like this really help you?"

"I know it doesn't help dammit!" Junpei yelled as his body sat up, and also shot up with the hand formally supporting his head curling right up into a fist.

Even with a sudden outburst like that though, Maki's expression didn't change at all, still sporting a firm glare without uttering a word. After a few seconds, Junpei's fist loosened, as did the rest of his body, and he just looked down at the carpet with a scowl.

"It's just…I dunno what I'm actually good at these days…"

"You're good at talking to me." That one line was enough to make Junpei sit right back up again, looking like someone just told him that his report card had all A+++s on it.

"B-but, I just yelled at you, didn't I?" He asked in one hell of a stutter with a confused tilt of his head, while Maki smirked.

"Oh please, I've had clients that snapped at me a hell of a lot sooner than you just did." She responded as a wave of her hand filled the snarkiness level right up to the top of the charts. "Besides, for someone as riddled with anxiety like you are at the moment, it's a lot more reasonable than it is for most people."

"Uh, I see." Junpei said simply, but not without a smile tugging at his lips now. Maki laughed softly once she saw Junpei begin to relax, and stood up out of her chair now.

"Well, our time's just about up now, but we'll meet again next week. Make sure to go get yourself hired now, okay tiger?" She told him, before offering a hand to help 'im up as well.

"Hey don't worry, I got it all." Junpei snickered a bit, taking the hand that Maki offered and standing up himself, and giving her one last smirk before exiting.

Once Junpei walked out of the office though, he couldn't help but stop and notice a strange feeling in his chest. It felt like whatever it was that tightened his ribcage was gone, and his heart had finally stopped racing a hundred miles per hour.

* * *

_April 3, 2010_

Ten of Noon. Just barely escaped the wrath of another execution.

Now Junpei just laid his back against the gritty red bricks that held the dorm up, looking around in just about every direction at the old place. The old tree right to the left, the stone staircase to the front door that he's walked through at least a hundred times with Yukari, Fuuka, Aigis, Ryoji, and his best friend.

He saw a limousine big enough to hold up to fifteen families at once come to a stop in front of the dormitory. Yup, Mitsuru was here now alright.

Once the limo came to a stop, one of the numerous car doors opened up, as the always-elegant Mitsuru Kirijo stepped out, adorned with a luscious fur coat, stylish sunglasses, and high heels.

"Sorry to keep you waiting Iori." Mitsuru stated as she slipped off her shades.

"O-oh! It's okay Senpai, I just got here myself." Junpei sputtered in front of the former leader of SEES, with his pupils zipping about to avoid giving a suggestive stare. "You look…uh… different from the last time I saw ya here a year ago…"

Mitsuru smirked. "Why thank you. You've changed quite a bit in appearance yourself, since you've started growing your hair out."

"Huh?" Junpei had a brief perplexed look, and promptly lifted a hand to feel the back of his head, noticing for the first time that his hair had grown out longer than his classic brush cut. Miss Kirijo let out a light chuckle at Junpei's surprise, but only for a second as her usual demeanor emerged.

"Anyway, this is what I hoped to discuss with you." She pulled out a folder from the interior of her coat, and handed it to Junpei.

"Huh? What's this?" The folder came complete with the giant red stamp spelling out 'CLASSIFIED' and within it contained numerous papers dense with paragraphs that contained every complicated word known to mankind. "…Shadow Operatives?"

"That's right." Mitsuru gave a firm nod, with an even firmer grimace. "To our dismay, it's been recently discovered that the troubling predicaments involving the shadows are far from over. Not only that, but it's been reported that their activity is even higher than it was in the past, to the point that even more of the police than just Kurosawa is taking notice."

"…So I'm being pulled back into shadow slaying?" Junpei asked once he lifted his head up from speed-reading through all the paperwork, cutting the crap and getting right to the meat of the matter with this employment.

"Afraid so." The head of Kirijo frowned. She had never forgotten the ordeals that Junpei had to face as a member of SEES; nobody could. "However, this isn't a requirement like it was last year. Plus, I know that you've just graduated, so if you wish to not commit to vanquishing shadows again, you can reject this offer entirely."

"…No, I'll sign up again." Junpei said briefly, much to Mitsuru's surprise. "I mean, not because I'm jumping for joy to fight for my life again, but…I don't really have any other choices at this point." He sighed and sulked at the same time, looking down again at the papers he could hardly read.

"I see." Mitsuru simply nodded, and then soon showed a smirk on her ruby red lips. "You can relax though; since we're still on the very start of establishment, there'll be nothing similar to the catastrophe of Tartarus." With that, she took a few steps closer to the front door of the dorm. "As such, this currently leaves you with a different task at hand." Upon standing right in front of the dorm's stone staircase, and pulled out a feather duster from the inside of her fur coat. "That task being to clean the dorm."

Junpei gawked with his mouth wide open, his head tilting and everything. "AH-"

"And yes Iori, I do in fact mean the entire dorm, from top to bottom."

"GAH…!" His back already started to slump a bit, while his arms shakily rose up with his fingers already starting to curl into his palms.

"And I should also point out that about half of your belongings are still in your dormitory room." She grinned again; clearly someone was enjoying this current moment far too much.

"Aaaaaagggghhhhh…" Junpei's entire torso was slumping to his toes in utter defeat, with his elongated groan being the icing on the cake of melancholy. A dark chuckle drifted across the air, courtesy of the Kirijo head.

"Anything else you have to say?"

"…It's been 5 minutes and I already regret this decision…" Junpei muttered with a face of crocodile tears.

"Good." Mitsuru said loud and clear, her words carrying the exact same sting as a 'hwa-chh'. "Then I recommend that you get started. And don't forget about the in-between spots as well." On that last reminder, she plopped the feather duster right into Junpei's hand, along with a key to the dorm and started strolling back to the limousine.

"Wait, what do you mean-PLAH, BLAK, AGH!" Junpei tried to ask, but just ended up spitting out the dust the vehicle left behind, as it already drove away from the dorm; all twenty-five car doors of the dang thing.

The new Shadow Operative groaned, but soon turned back to the front door. Knowing that there was no use in standing outside, he walked up the old short staircase again and, using the dorm key, opened the doors and walked right in.

Looking around, the old place hadn't changed at all. The arrangement of the couches and small coffee table was still set in place by the right, while the countertop with all the papers of old signatures was tucked away on the left. Even from a distance like the front entrance, the small kitchen remembered for many nights of instant ramen could be seen through the glass windows in the thinnest of walls around it.

However, there was someone entirely new that Junpei spotted at the bottom edge of his eyes; a mop in a silver bucket, a brand spanking new vacuum, and a broom; all of which were standing up perfectly in place.

The high school graduate groaned once again, remembering how his senpai might as well have had the ability to see into the future. (Hell, considering her Persona's ability, that wasn't too far out from the realm of possibilities!) But still, he took a hold of the vacuum cleaner, unraveled the snake of a cord to plug it into the nearest outlet, and started the official cleanup work, hearing no one and nothing but the crackling rhythm of the vacuum sucking up near invisible bits and pieces from the green carpets.

Jobs that kept food on the table were always the biggest pain in the ass.

* * *

Junpei Iori, Persona 3 (C) Atlus

Unexpected (C) Lotus Juice


	2. Chapter 2

As the days kept flying by though, things finally started to get better.

"_So you're just wastin' your life away as a janitor now? Yeah, that sounds like a better life to me Garbage Guy!"_

The payment from Mitsuru had successfully given him enough money to live off of,

"_Having fun with your 'therapist' huh? Has she taught you to stop being a lil' shithead of a son?"_

and the appointments with Maki-san were more fun and relieving than the last, with the place feeling closer to a home than it did a therapist's office.

"_Hah! A girlfriend!? Now that's a riot! What's next, you're a fucking fiancé too?"_

Everything was supposed to be all fine and dandy now…

..So why won't his voice go away already?

* * *

_April 24, 2010_

"Is something wrong Junpei? You look distressed." Maki asked right from the start, noticing how Junpei had just walked in and already looked like he just killed a man.

"Wait, I do?" Junpei replied with a look of surprise like a kid being told that they had some ketchup stuck on their face.

"Junpei, would I lie about something like that?" Maki pouted like a pufferfish and crossed her arms; something that seemed familiar to a way Yukari would react. This spurred a small laugh from her client.

"Hah, point taken…" Junpei chuckled out, even with his eyes having a downcast gaze, and drumming his fingers on one knee. "…Well, I'm not gonna sound crazy if I admit something… do I?"

That question immediately caused Maki to smirk with a giggle. "Oh Junpei, did you forget this is a therapy session already?" She asked in a perky tone, while her hand gave a widespread of the room akin to a waiter showing off a dining room. "Admit whatever you want to, no matter how crazy it sounds."

"Alright, thanks." Junpei let out a chuckle of his own from seeing Maki act like her typical upbeat self, but it quickly faded away once he took in a breath. "…Well, there's been a lot of times where I feel like there's this annoying as hell voice in my head, of my old man bitching at me no matter what I do, even though he's not around. Hell, even right now I can hear him calling me a little cocksucker and threatening me with another spanking for talking about him like this." Junpei let out a wavering chuckle from his last statement, with his eyes drifting to the empty side of the couch he was sitting on.

"I see." Maki however, didn't laugh or smile back. "Is your father away?"

"If you mean away rotting underground in some shoddy graveyard, then yeah." Junpei snarked aloud without a smirk, as his eyes looked back to Maki. "Ya don't have to pity me though, since my dad was a total bastard anyway." Were his words too harsh? Maybe. But Junpei felt that was the most basic summary of the whole situation.

"What do you mean by he was a total bastard?" Maki simply asked, without even appearing mournful or horrified by Junpei's words.

"That after my ma left the scene, the only way he could 'get over it'" He made the sarcastic quotations with his fingers. "was to drink himself stupid off of anything, even fucking cooking wine." A low growl crawled in Junpei's throat after saying all of that, while his hands tightened and gripped one another; one of which was already in the form of a fist.

Maki gave a nod. "I take it he also wasn't supportive to you either, was he?"

"Fuck no he wasn't!" Junpei's head shot right up, with one hand landing on his knee and scrunching up his pant leg. "Whenever he wasn't off chugging barrels of booze down, he'd get pissed off at home over the stupidest reasons! Just thinking about him makes me want to strangle that bastard!" He clenched both of his hands into fists, with his fingernails no doubt digging into his palms, while his breaths became heavy through his gritting teeth. After a few seconds though, his body started to loosen as his heart stopped pounding like a jackhammer, and he stopped growling, with his face as red as a ripe beet. "I-…Sorry Maki-san, I didn't think I'd get that angry just from talking about my dad…"

"It's alright Junpei." Maki nodded again, simply listening to what Junpei was saying. "Was your dad different when your mom was still around?"

Junpei grimaced, as the scarlet shade of his face started to fade. "All I can remember from back then was that those were the only moments of my life where he was actually sober for more than five seconds, and didn't spank me bare-butted." He stated with a quick sigh, as his eyes drifted to the patterns on the carpet. He knew that all of the text messages his dad sent him had been deleted.

"Mm." Another nod from Maki, as she listened to every word Junpei said. "So it was when he fell into drinking that your relationship disintegrated, huh?"

"Pretty damn much…" He muttered amongst the growl in the back of his throat. "That and the times he slapped me just because he got pissy, and nearly blasting my eardrums out when he was yelling at me 'cause I moved into a high school dorm." A fist soon formed once again, tight enough to draw blood from the palm. "Along with all the calls and messages he'd throw at me just to tease me about living in a dorm, even though anyone with half a brain could tell it was better than having to stomach him all the fucking time!"

"Junpei, it sounds to me that you have quite a lot of pent-up anger regarding your father." Maki stated sedately, resting both of her hands on her lap and sitting straight up, even with Junpei almost never following the rule of eye contact at the moment.

First came the quick and dazed look up from gazing on the carpeting, mainly from hearing such a calm response to his ranting, then the chagrin sigh and squint of his eyes. "Yeah, I do honestly…" He rubbed the back of his neck, closing his eyes again. "Must sound pretty sickening since my old man's dead now huh?"

"No, I can understand perfectly where you're coming from." Maki answered, but not with the expected doting tone of pity. Instead, it was calm and focused. "If anything, I think you're right to call out on your dad's behavior, given everything that he's done."

That was a surprise if Junpei ever heard one. No prattling on about how his dad was 'still family' or any other shit like that?

"However… is all of this anger actually proving anything?" She asked with a prominent frown, as her eyes gave off a firm glare.

It was just one question, yet it already made Junpei fluster with every emotion you could name right away. His eyes widened open, and his pupils dilated, but they also started to sting. His hands began to lightly twitch, trying to not curl back up into fists. Even his breaths felt heavier; both breathing them in, and exhaling them out. "B-but…my dad…"

"Who has passed away now, right?" Maki didn't show a drop of hesitation in so much as a syllable. "So what's the point in holding onto it if he's no longer here to see it?"

Junpei nearly winced back. He felt the urge to yell right back at her rattle inside him, but his throat was closing up, and his lips felt sewed shut. The stinging sensation in his eyes began to worsen, until his vision almost completely blurred, and his eyes dampened.

"…Fuck, I don't know…" Junpei choked out as the first set of droplets rolled down his cheeks, and only kept on coming from there. Before long, his hand was pressed right up against both of his eyes, becoming just as sodden as his face.

"It's all right. Let it all out Junpei." Maki couldn't have said that in any quieter and simpler of a tone of voice, as her previous sternness eroded away.

Junpei wanted to reply back, but couldn't. The only thing that escaped his throat was an array of silent sobs, while more tears kept trickling down.

Minutes passed in silence, with only the tears falling onto the carpet, and Junpei's entire body shaking as they kept on coming.

It wasn't until the minute hand had landed on the next number that Junpei felt the lump in his throat fade away, and could finally open his eyes without them stinging or soaking.

Maki showed a faint smile once Junpei looked back up again. "Here." With one hand, she offered a box of tissues to Junpei, causing the young man to smile back at her as her took a few to clean his face. This, in turn, gave Maki a more relaxed smirk. "Do you feel better now?"

"Y'know… I do actually." Junpei answered with a more positive perk in his voice from before, while wiping his eyes. "I don't even know why really. Guess realizing how much of an idiot I've been this whole time really helped me out." He then let out a chuckle after that sentence, this time with a more lighthearted inflection to it; similar to the times he'd laugh at his own jokes in high school.

But Maki shook her head once again. "You weren't being an idiot at all Junpei. There aren't a whole lot of people who realize how much anger they're actually holding onto in their lives, and there are even less who understand that they're only hurting themselves as a result of it all."

"I…I see." Junpei responded as both his laugh and smile diminished. With how much he understood about this whole 'holding onto anger' stuff at the moment, he felt like he fit exactly into the category of those people who never realize it.

"Relax Junpei. The important thing right now is that you finally look like yourself again." Maki told him peacefully, and soon pulled out a small object from one of her side pockets, holding it out to Junpei. "In fact… I think you could use this."

"Huh?" Junpei blinked upon the sight of what Maki was holding out, and took a hold of it himself. It appeared to be a necklace, tied together by both string and wood, with a copper pendant dangling from it. Etched onto said pendant, was a pair of wolves, one on top, one on the bottom, and both forming a circle.

"It calls back to an old tale from the Native Americans." Maki answered composedly, putting both of her hands on her lap again. "The tale is of a war between two wolves that dwell inside every being, including you and me. One of the wolves is evil, for it is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other wolf is good, as it is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith."

It was a short and simple story, but it was enough to riddle Junpei's expression with perplexity, and get the wheels in his head turning like they never had before.

Before Maki could continue though, a constant beepingsuddenly went off in the room, causing her to look down at her watch, to discover that her alarm was going off. "Oh, the session is over already?" She said to herself as she looked down at her wrist. "Ah, sorry Junpei, but it looks like our time is up. You weren't too uncomfortable during this session I hope?"

"Oh uh, no it's alright." Junpei gave a quick shake of his head as he tucked the necklace into his side pocket. "I'm just wondering… are you saying I should forgive my dad then?"

Maki looked back up, and shook her head. "…I'm not saying anything about that Junpei." She said with an air of honesty. "What you decide to feel about your father is your decision, not mine. I just hoped to let you know how much harm you were causing to yourself by refusing to let go of your anger regarding him."

"…I gotcha." He nearly sighed out as his head slumped back down a bit. "Sorry about all that then."

"Don't apologize Junpei, this is exactly what these sessions are for after all." Maki said with a smile before she stood up out of her seat. "Can I hope to see you next week then?"

"Sure." Junpei stood up himself and regained his grin, and headed to the door, but only opened it halfway before his arm stopped in place. "…Can I ask something really quick though?"

Maki nodded to him. "Oh, why of course you can. Go on Junpei."

"…In that story you were talking about…" Junpei asked, referring back to the tale of two wolves. "Which wolf wins?"

Maki gave a serene smile.

"The one that you feed."

Junpei's eyes widened, filled with bewilderment, while the rest of his body stood still.

"Don't worry, it'll make more sense when you think about it." Maki told him before patting his shoulder a bit, and closing the door behind him once he walked out of the room.

Outside the room, Junpei looked down at his hand, flexing it open and closed several times. When he finally did move his legs to leave, they felt heavier than usual.

* * *

The Paulownia Mall was bustling just like it always was, even in the middle of a month of school like April as the plaza was filled with parents and kids, teens, and everything in between.

While most people took off to a certain store, Junpei just sat on the first bench right by the central water fountain, his mind still full to the brim with the conversation he had with Maki just a couple minutes ago. All the while his eyes wandered wherever they wanted to.

"Do you think I'm sending my daughter to school just so she can fail her courses and play baseball!?"

Until a sudden shout like that practically rang in his ears, instantly causing his head to turn to his left, to which he saw a middle-aged man with a near permanent scowl on his face, and a little girl, who couldn't be any older than ten, crying her heart out as she held a baseball bat.

"When I come back from the Police Office, you better have that bat in the garbage where it belongs, do you hear me?!" He yelled again at the child, scowling furiously even as the girl nodded amongst the tears coating her face. Soon afterwards, he simply walked off into the Police Station, leaving his kid to stand there as all the other shoppers tried to cruise right along without staring.

It would've been easy for Junpei to focus on the father, considering how much he was scolding his lungs out in the same fashion his old man did to him as a youngling. But instead, he took notice of the young girl, never taking her eyes off of her when she tossed her baseball bat into a nearby trashcan while her dampened eyes looked away, before she bolted into an alleyway within the cracks of space in between the stores.

Junpei stood up from the bench.

He took a look at the trashcan, and pulled out the baseball bat with ease.

It didn't even get messy, and the bat appeared to be Canadian Yellow Birch on top of it; a high quality wood.

After that, the capped young man turned his attention to the alleyway, as his feet already started strolling along towards it.

Just one look in, and there she was, sitting down in the dust and cobwebs that littered the floor here, and her face buried in her legs as a faint array of sobs and sniffles almost echoed in the lonely corridor.

"Hey, you forget something?"

The girl almost froze upon hearing an unknown vice though, as she finally lifted her head up and saw where it came from.

That someone was Junpei, squatting down right next to her, and sporting a gentle smile as he held the bat she had previously tried to throw away.

The child shook her head in response to his question though, and concealed her face back into her knees.

Junpei's smile soon turned into a mournful frown, seeing the poor kid like this. His legs went from a squat to pretzel as he sat right down next to her.

"Your dad doesn't like it when you play baseball huh?" He asked her once he crossed his legs successfully, and putting the bat in his lap to keep it from getting dirtied by whatever kind of gunk gathers in this forgotten bit of the mall.

No direct reply came from her this time, but her muffled sobs served as a sufficient answer.

Junpei softly placed a hand on the girl's back and gently rubbed it as she continued to cry, in the hopes of offering at least some kind of comfort that'd actually get through to her. The child let out a bit of a jolt at first from Junpei's touch, but it disappeared as soon as it came, as her sobs continued along.

"Are you just planning on sitting in this dirty old alley then?" He asked her quietly, still rubbing her back. The girl's only response amongst her faint crying was a nod of her head. Junpei let out a somewhat exaggerated sigh of disappointment, and stood back up placing the bat on his shoulders. "So much for having a buddy to play a game or two with outback in the field behind the mall…"

"H-huh…?" The girl perked her head up a bit when she heard that, like a puppy peeking out of a birthday box.

Junpei smirked. "You wanna come along? I'm not gonna force you if you don't want to."

The young girl sank her chin back into her legs, clearly pondering about the idea, while Junpei just stood there and waited for her response. After about a half-a-minute, she stood up from the dust and gunk, brushed off any of it that got attached to her shorts and shirt, taking a tiny scoot of her foot closer to Junpei. Her eyes were still glued to the ground though.

Another gentle grin grew on Junpei's face. "Wanna get some fresh air then?" He saw the girl give a nod to the floor, and took his time walking to the door, to make sure that she didn't feel pressured or let behind.

In that time, he took out the pendant from his pocket that Maki had given him, and put it on around his neck.

"Ah man, this is more like it! Haven't felt sunshine this good in a long time." Junpei exlaimed as soon as he reached the field he was talking about earlier right behind the mall, not only coming complete with fine green grass sprinkled with dandelions here and there, but also a baseball diamond right smack dab in the middle of it.

The young girl that followed a few steps behind him was already wide eyed at the sight of this place.

"Beautiful place isn't it?" Junpei asked her, unable to hide his grin at the sight of her astonishment. The girl didn't look up or nod her head or anything, but that wasn't even surprising at this point. Junpei just placed the bat in front of her, allowing her to take a grasp of it, and pulled out a baseball himself. Where it suddenly came from was one of the deepest and darkest secrets of SEES, sworn to absolute secrecy even should the Fall make an attempt to reoccur 3 times over. "Wanna play ball now?" He smiled, tossing the ball up and catching it in the same hand.

The young girl finally looked up at Junpei now, seeing his iconic goofy grin, and smiled back with a nod of confirmation.

"Awesome!" Junpei exclaimed in high spirits. "Race ya to first base then!" With that, he already took right off to the baseball diamond in the middle of the field, with the young girl already taking off to catch up to him.

"Haha, made it!" Junpei clamored once the heel of his foot slammed right onto the worn out patch of dirt that was apparently a base, even leaving a cloud of dust in its wake.

"No fair! You got a head start!" The girl panted out with a prominent pout as she came running right behind him.

"Aw, you're right, that was a low blow on my part…" He said with a sulk in both his body and voice in a tone hammier than a serving of BLT, but soon picked himself right back up and snapped his fingers as the lightbulb atop his head lit up with a _ding!_ "Okay then, because I was the one who cheated, I'll be the pitcher while you get to be the batter and show your skills, alrighty?"

The child's eyes had something of a glimmer once they lit up from Junpei's suggestion, and a smile found its way onto her face. "Okay!"

"Now that's what I like to hear!" Junpei grinned profusely to see the little girl's face finally have a pretty smile, like it should. "By the way, what's your name?"

"Oh... " The child's head made eye contact with the ground again while her smile had gone away, and her neck scrunched up a tad, just like a turtle retreating back into its shell. "It's Seicho. That's not typically a girl's name I know, but-"

"Calm down Seicho, it's a cute name." Junpei said before she could even finish, giving her a soft rustling of her brunette hair. "I'm Junpei Iori, nice to meet ya." He chuckled a tad after he gave his old-fashioned introduction, and held up the baseball once again. "Now ya ready to swing it?"

Once Seicho saw Junpei with a grin on his face and a baseball in his hand, her smile came right back, as did her widened eyes of sheer jubilation. "Yup!" She nodded ecstatically.

"Awesome!" Junpei bursted aloud with glee, soon taking a couple steps back to the middle of the field, with his legs planted in place to the side while his torso faced the front, over to Seicho's direction. His right arm was now firmly set in position, holding the baseball to the skies. "Now give it all ya got."

Seicho nodded back, and got into a batter's pose herself now and held her bat straight up, ready to let 'er rip.

Junpei took a firm step and made a strong pitch with his lucky right arm, sending the baseball smoking. Seicho swung with all her strength the very millisecond the ball was in range, and sent it flying right back across the diamond. Junpei even flinched out of harm's way, just barely avoiding the official annihilation of every last bone in his face. His bewildered look back to the ball only lasted a second though, as he noticed Seicho scurrying right to the bases. Junpei dashed to the ball and scraped it off the ground. He soon darted straight to 3rd base as quickly as his legs would allow.

As he did, a small bump in the soil caused him to slip and fall right on his stomach, landing with a grunt of pain slipping out.

"Ah! Mr. Iori!" Seicho immediately took notice, and hurried right to Junpei, leaving her spot on the field. "Are you okay? Did you get hurt anywhere?"

"Ngh…Yeah, I'm fine Seicho, don't worry." Junpei smirked back at her while sitting back up and brushing the dry dirt off of his clothes. "Awfully considerate of you to ask though." He smiled to her gently, giving the young girl a near instant blush that tickled her entire face peach pink.

To which she didn't notice the baseball in Junpei's hand that tapped her shoulder.

Seicho's eyebrows furrowed, while her cheeks went from a fuzzy pink to an enraged red.

"YOU JERK!" Seicho shouted right into Junpei's ears and pelting him with small punches that looked worse than they actually were, all the while Junpei laughed to himself like a hyena.

"Alrighty then, you wanna have a rematch tomorrow after school?" He asked aloud while being pummeled by the tiniest pair of fists he ever felt.

That question however, caused Seicho to stop her onslaught of punches as she disappeared, allowing 'Miss Gloomy who's Best Friends with the Floor' to return and take her place. "B-but, my dad wouldn't approve of me playing baseball, let alone with a stranger…"

"Stranger?" Junpei said, repeating her last word with a question mark, and soon appeared to be pondering from how he was stroking his goatee with a few fingers. "I got it! How 'bout I hold on to that bat of yours so that your dad doesn't see you still hanging onto it? After all, a stranger wouldn't return the next day to give back a high quality Canadian Birch, would they?"

"…Okay then." Seicho showed a small smile from his words. "Thank you for the game Mr. Iori." She bowed down ever so politely in front of him, becoming a full on 90-degree angle in the process.

"Please, just call me Junpei, 'kay?" He chuckled, giving her hair another rustling. Seicho stood back up smiling at him, and let him take a hold of her baseball bat before running back to the mall.

Junpei smiled gently to himself as he saw Seicho run back happily, and started trotting back home himself, with a baseball bat resting over his shoulders, and a set of clothes covered in dusty dirt.

Every good match needed to end with a warm shower.

* * *

_April 25, 2010_

Junpei stood out in the field once again, looking left and right, up and down for where Seicho could be. Sure, he arrived a few minutes early, but better to be a tad bored for a while than to break a child's heart.

"Junpei!" A familiar young voice called out, causing Junpei to look behind where he stood, and saw Seicho running to where he stood, with a great big smile.

"Seicho! Glad to see ya back!" Junpei called right back to her, handing her bat back to her as she reached the edge of the baseball diamond. "Ya ready to even the score then?"

"That last game didn't count for anything! You cheated!" Seicho screamed out in a tantrum, jumping up and down as if she was a Tezuka character. That of which mostly served to make the late teenager laugh.

"Haha, alright alright, we'll start from scratch then." Junpei replied as his laughter died down, but not his smile. "You happy now?"

"…Yes." Seicho responded, albeit with the pufferfish pout and her arms crossed.

"Great!" The utter goofball of a late teen grinned, then stroked a dramatic point to home base. "Then get yourself ready for a brand new ballgame now!"

The game started in a flash once Seicho went right to home base and choked up her bat. One inning went by in one second with every run made and base hit, and of course, every baseball that was sent smoking. For once, it was an activity that wasn't all about getting good grades or mulling through people's bullshit, but actually letting loose and having a good time, like he was a little kid having a blast playing baseball again.

After the final inning, both Seicho and Junpei could be found collapsed on the grass, and panting like crazy, complete with their tongues sticking out.

"Seicho?" Junpei muttered in the middle of his pants. "What was the score again?"

"Um..I kinda lost track?" The young girl embarrassingly admitted, once she caught her breath again.

"Haha, so did I!" Junpei answered in a burst of laughter as he started to sit up, despite being out of breath.

"…Um, Junpei sir?" Seicho asked while she sat up, causing Junpei to look back at her.

"I want to thank you, for coming here again." She told him with a smiling face that screamed of sheer gratitude.

Junpei happily grinned right back at Seicho, and gave her a one-armed hug right around the shoulders. "No prob Seicho."

The young girl let out a gratuitous giggle from the hug. "…So, if it isn't too much trouble, could you keep doing this then?"

"Are you kidding? I thought you'd never ask!" Junpei exclaimed as his whole face lit up just from hearing that. "Okay, how 'bout every Saturday after school then?"

"Sure!" Seicho gleefully nodded.

"Great then!" Junpei replied happily, and already had a pen and notepad in hand from who knows where. With it, he quickly scribbled something on the first page, and tore it off to hand to Seicho. "Hold onto this if anything comes up then, okay?"

Seicho seemed to have a question mark above her head upon the sight of the small paper, and took a look at what was written on it as Junpei capped his pen. The paper contained a set of hastily scribbled numbers, spelling out what looked like a phone number.

"This way you'll know to call if something comes up, 'kay?" Junpei said to her in a gentle tone of voice. In mere seconds, he was bombarded with a hug from the little girl.

He simply smiled from that, and hugged her right back.

* * *

_May 14, 2010_

"Uuuugggghhhhh…"Junpei entered the apartment, and immediately collapsed on the couch again to recover at least some feeling in his fingers after the near endless hours of cleaning the dorm.

_Pi Pi Pi!_

The ring of his phone buzzed in the air once again, causing Junpei to perk his head straight back up. Upon getting it out and flipping it open, his weariness immediately turned to joy from seeing Seicho's Caller ID on the screen.

"Seicho! How ya doing? I take it you're looking forward to-"

"_Is this Junpei Iori?" _A gruff and masculine voice said on the other line.

Junpei went silent. That definitely wasn't Seicho's voice, but the phone showed her Caller ID. "Um… yes? Who is this?"

"_Shogai Seijin. Seicho's father."_ The other line replied in a tone that made Mitsuru sound upbeat and wisecracking. _"I'm calling to give a word of advice."_

"What would that word of advice be Seijin-san?" Junpei asked, his words already laced with a feeling of dread.

"_Stay away from my daughter." _His words were simple, and his tone harsh._ "The last thing she needs is the idea that she can trust older strangers on a whim, along with developing the habit of playing baseball after school rather than actually accomplishing something."_

Junpei felt offended by that; not just by the assumption that he was no better than a predator, but that all of those games where Seicho was as happy as could be 'didn't accomplish anything'. "…Why is that?"

"_Because she's __**my**__ daughter that's why!" _His yell was even louder than the speaker function_. "You think that I'm raising her to do nothing with her life but smack baseballs and run around a dirty field while making herself an open target for any bypasser?" _After the ringing in Junpei's ears from Shogai's scoldings finally went away, he heard the rest of what he had to say. "_So don't let me see you around her or any of her friends again, got it? I won't hesitate to call in authorities to settle the situation once and for all."_

"…I got it." Junpei replied, hiding the growl that riddled in his throat, and hung up right away. If he listened to that guy any longer, he'd feel like he was back at Wild Duck Burger again. Once he tucked the phone back in his pocket, his hand curled into a tight fist.

* * *

_**The trees were coming back into sight, but the deep haze still lingered on.**_

_**The white wolf was recovering, but limping while batted with scars.**_

_**The earth was fresh with footprints**_

_**Ones with a paw of only three.**_

_**A growl emanated through the remains of the forest**_

_**and the black wolf leaped again, aiming for the throat.**_

* * *

_May 15, 2010_

A sigh escaped Junpei's mouth as he stood in the middle of the baseball field behind the mall, with Seicho's bat on his shoulders. Just yesterday morning, he was ecstatic just thinking about meeting those two kids again, and seeing their bright smiles as they dashed from one base to another. But now, it was even more deserted than the old dorm Junpei had to clean day after day.

"Junpei!"

His head shot up at the sound of a familiar voice, and quickly turned it to see Seicho running towards him, her face already soaked with tears.

"I'm so sorry! I-I tried to keep my dad from finding out but when he finally found the number…!" Her throat closed up from her tears before she could finish, and before long, she fell down to her knees and sobbed into her hands.

Junpei just bent right down, and held her close in a tender hug, much to the little girl's astonishment.

"It's alright Seicho. I know it wasn't your fault." He told her while giving her back a gentle rub. Seicho tried to respond, but no words could come out of her mouth, and she simply buried her face into Junpei's chest as her sobs continued.

Junpei had a melancholic smile as he let Seicho weep in his shirt. "I'm sorry that I couldn't meet up with ya more often…" He said in a whisper, all the while Seicho cried into his chest.

"…Can you at least do me one last favor Seicho?"

Seicho's sobs ceased for the moment, but her head didn't lift an inch away from Junpei. "Of course I can."

"…Make sure that you keep moving forward with baseball, okay?" The young adult uttered, giving the child another calming embrace. "Don't do what I ended up doing…"

"…Don't do what?"

Junpei didn't reply, but he did show a smile on his face and let out a weak laugh from his throat. He soon carefully let go of Seicho to stand back up, and once he did, he took off the baseball cap that was always adorned atop his head, and placed it right on Seicho's.

"Give up on what you love." Junpei said while smiling wistfully. "No matter what your dad keeps saying, keep up that burning passion of yours." He then ruffled her head again, even with the hat on.

The brink of a shower of tears tickled at the back of Seicho's eyes, but she held it back.

"Here's your bat back." He lightly placed the bat into her palms, and gave her one last pat on the head. "Take care of yourself now."

Even though Seicho initially looked like the bat would roll right out of her hands, her grip soon tightened on it, with a firm look in her eyes. After giving a stern nod to Junpei, she began walking back to the mall

Junpei chuckled, and began returning to his apartment himself. He was definitely going to miss that good ol' cap of his, especially with it being the last memento left of his entire family. But Seicho needed it a lot more than he did; Junpei could tell from how much she had dampened his tank top shirt.

* * *

_May 17, 2010_

"_If you wanna battle, then I'll take it to the street_

_Where there's no rules_

_Take off the gloves ref, please step down_

_Gotta prove my skills so get down"_

The beats of hip-hop buzzed in Junpei's head with his earbuds set in his ears, while his hands were being occupied by his COMP system, and trying once again to take out that goddamn Miltank already; Just a typical afternoon in the Iori apartment.

In fact, it was only by sheer luck that he noticed the vibrating of his phone against his left thigh. Once he did, he tugged out his buds, closed his game shut, and pulled his phone right out. "Y'ello?"

"_Hello. Is this Junpei Iori?"_ The other end of the line definitely wasn't the douchebag of a father that previously called him.

"Uh, yeah that's me." Junpei responded hesitantly. "Who the heck is this though?"

"_Oh, my apologies for not introducing myself right away Mr. Iori! My name is Junko Hoshino; I'm a teacher from the Gekkoukan Elementary School, and I'm currently in search for a coach to hopefully establish our Little League team."_

"Wait, a coach?" He already felt the question mark hovering right above the tips of his hair.

"_Yes. One of my students had suggested you, so if isn't too much trouble, could you come down tomorrow morning for a quick synopsis at least? The kids and I would greatly appreciate it!"_

"Oh uh…sure." Junpei said, and hung up without even waiting for a reply back before flopping down on his back across the couch. What the hell just happened in that sudden phone call?

And what the hell was going to happen tomorrow?

* * *

_May 18, 2010_

Quite the quaint elementary school this place appeared to be, unlike its high school counterpart. Not only was the building itself fairly low in comparison, but all of the colorful announcement boards on the walls and the more cozy Victorian style of the Visitor Room certainly didn't make it feel nearly as constructed as his high school.

"Ms. Hoshino, the visitor you were talking about is here and waiting now." One of the faculty members announced into the phone, while Junpei simply sat in one of the open chairs while his eyes were darting around in every direction of the place, and his hands on his knees with his fingers strumming.

However, he also soon heard the sound of hustling footsteps from the halls, to soon see a middle-aged teacher in the typical fancy attire, one hand holding onto the stairway railing for deal life and the other grasping a simple clipboard, come to a halt in the visitor room and panting like it was the middle of a summer heat onslaught.

"Junpei Iori's here? Already?" The teacher just barely said as she was still catching her breath.

The faculty member simply nodded as she pointed to the Visitor Room. "Why yes Ms. Hoshino. In fact, he's sitting right behind you."

"Ah!" The teacher looked like she had a jolt in her spine like a cartoon character, but still turned back to see Junpei sitting in one of the available seats. Once she did, a quick hand of hers streamed over her hair to fix it up a tad, and she walked over to him with a calm and collected strut.

"Greetings Mr. Iori." Ms. Hoshino said gleefully as she offered her hand. Upon taking another look at Junpei though, her eyes perked open, and blinked with surprise. "Oh, you look quite different than how I imagined you from hearing your voice."

"Heh, thanks." Junpei put on a wry smile from what he could only assume was a compliment, and shook her hand as he stood up. "Nice to meet ya too Junko-san."

Junko couldn't help but smile again at Junpei's amiability, and soon swiveled right on her right high heel towards one of the halls. "Now, if you would follow me to the outside field then."

"Sure thing." Junpei nodded, and started following her throughout the main hall of the school, all the while still a tad disoriented from all the vibrant bulletin boards.

In that moment, Junko raised up the clipboard she had, while the other swiftly pulled out a black pen. When she turned her head back to Junpei, there was no doubt that she ready to write on the papers it held. "So then Mr. Iori, how many previous experiences have you had with coaching then?"

"C-coaching?" Junpei stuttered. Growing up as a child who had the impossible dream of becoming a pro baseball star was one thing, but having experience in being a coach was another. "…Um, I was really desperate for the Leader role in my after-school club?"

"…Hrm, I see." Her lower lip stuck out a tad when she said that, and her hand could already be seen writing something down on the paper she held. "Any degrees then?"

Junpei 's shoulders slumped a bit now, since he already knew the answer to that question all too well. "Uh no, I haven't found a college that'll accept me yet." He said in a rather plain and soft-spoken tone; the happiest tone of voice he could muster when conversing about that certain topic.

The teacher seemed to anxiously murmur to herself now, all the while she continued to write away. "…Your resume?"

Junpei felt a sharp chill down his spine. There was only one thing in this known universe that was worse than the eighteen-year old's grades, and that was the absolute train wreck that was his resume, no thanks to the Wild Duck fiasco. "…Uh, I don't have it with me right now." He admitted right away; he wasn't lying to hide his bad rap either, since the thought of bringing a resume didn't hit him until just now. For once he was actually grateful that he was a forgetful son of a bitch.

Junko came to a stop, and let out a disgruntled sigh. Junpei didn't blame her after hearing a shoddy track record like that. "...Could you at least come outside with me to see the field for a minute then?" She asked. But instead of her one hand inscribing who knows what on her papers, it rested on the handle of a metal door that was embedded through the thickest wall of the school. From the look of the light pouring in through the single window in the door, it seemed to lead to the outside area.

Junpei only gave a rather reluctant nod, and Junko immediately pushed the door open, where the very first sight that could be seen was that of a baseball field, swarming with the most gung ho of little kids dressed in the finest of tiny baseball uniforms. One of whom was a little girl with a finely crafted Canadian Birch baseball bat, and an all too familiar hat.

Junpei's eyes widened within a fraction of a second. "S-Seicho…?"

The girl perked her head up at the sound of the name and voice, and turned her head towards Junko and Junpei. In a single millisecond, a smile stretched across her face, and she bolted right to the two of them, and soon wrapped her arms right Junpei's torso.

"Junpei! You really did arrive! I just knew you would!" She blurted right aloud while jumping for joy.

Naturally, Junpei couldn't stay confused at a face like that, and already had one arm gently hugging her back.

Junko herself couldn't help but smile. "Well, I'm glad to see that you've met one of the team's members already." She said.

"Wait, member?" Junpei said with surprise as he pulled his arm back, and looked down at the youngling. "Seicho, did you…"

"Yup! My school has been trying to arrange a team for the Little League for a while. I was usually too nervous to speak up on it since I'd be the only girl, but…well, after all that stuff that you said before…" Seicho hid a bit behind the baseball cap she wore, in the hope that it would hide the splash of rosy pink on her face.

"Seriously?" Junpei's entire face lit up, and he soon picked the young kid in a big bear hug. "That's awesome! I'm so happy for ya Seicho!" He uttered out ever so ecstatically as Seicho hugged him right back and giggled all the while.

The teacher let out a chuckle herself at the near-diabetic scene. "Well, at least you're good with the kids then." She commented before pulling her pen back out, and wrote down something or other on her papers again.

"Ehe, well thanks then." Junpei admitted as he put Seicho back down, unaware of all the curious glances some of the other kids were giving.

"Could you come with me to the office then?" Junko asked politely.

"Oh, okay." Junpei agreed, and gave Seicho a quick pat on the head. "Seeya Seicho, alright?" He told her, and was glad to see her nod in response. He could never get tired of such an adorable smile.

The graduate and the teacher then returned to the front office, Junko's fingers soon started to fumble through the massive mess of papers that somehow all stayed within the grip of a single clipboard. An eyebrow of Junpei's raised at the sight of Junko intensive searching, until she finally pulled out a whole set of dense job descriptions, causing both brows shoot upward.

"Here are all the details of the job." Junko told him. "The head of school will call you later this week to let you know if you're hired or not, so make sure to answer your phone." After she placed the papers right into Junpei's hand, she immediately put one hand on his shoulder as well, looking right at him with sincere eyes. "…Just pray for the best now, okay?"

Junpei put on a bitter smile, since he knew the reason for all of the encouragement after seeing his glorious list of post-high school accomplishments. "Thanks Junko-san." He said, and held the papers under his arm for carrying. He headed to the door without even a 'goodbye', and Junko's smile quickly faded once he did so.

* * *

"_Arrive after school on the dot every weekday then. I'm hoping that you won't be a disappointment Iori." _Said the stout and deep voice on the other end of the line; the kind of voice that almost always belonged to a head of school.

"Yeah, that's what I'm hoping too." Junpei's words were atop a wimpy chuckle, and soon lowered the phone from his ear.

He then put it down on top of the grimy beer stain on the table in front of the couch, and leaned as far back as he could on the old piece of furniture, with his eyes glued to the ceiling again.

Becoming a Little League coach…that was definitely a new one. Especially since he spent a lot more time in the position of Jealous Douchebag Who Wishes He Could Be Leader rather than Actual Leader. Along with the fact that, well, who _could_ take a total class clown like him seriously as a quote unquote 'leader'? Much less one in baseball: the one sport that he was doomed to forever suck in!

Junpei sat straight up and shook his head for a half-second to drown out the sudden onslaught of thoughts he had right then and there. This was the typical procedure of his mind: have a simple wondering thought float in, and then in came another thought about himself, and another thought, and another, until his brain was dizzying with inner thoughts like the tiny beads in a maraca.

Junpei let out what he officially dubbed a 'grigh' -a cross between a groan and a sigh-, and looked back down at his phone on the table. Now that he was attending yet another job, he shouldn't rely on the support of his senpai anymore, should he? But at the same time, considering that he was a Persona-user, was that even an option?

He picked his phone back up, despite the small flurry of thoughts flowing back into his head, and already opened up his list of contacts.

"_You're hoping to only work part-time from now on?"_ The eloquent voice of Mitsuru Kirijo said with a spark of surprise. _"This isn't because you're unsatisfied with your occupation of cleaning the dorm, is it Iori?"_

"Nah Senpai, I already know how effective it is to try and negotiate with ya. I learned that the hard way after all." Junpei chuckled into the receiving end of his phone, remembering his chilling 'execution'. "It's mainly 'cause I just got hired for a different job yesterday."

"_A different job?"_ Mitsuru asked curiously. _"What would that be?"_

Junpei's head lowered, and a twitch tugged at his mouth. "…Promise ya won't laugh?" He eventually asked, but didn't get a response back. Once a quiet minute had passed by, he took Mitsuru's silence as a yes. "…I just got hired as a Little League coach."

The silence continued, much to Junpei's astonishment. Usually when somebody said 'promise you won't laugh', that guaranteed at least a chuckle or a snicker underneath the other person's breath.

"Uh, Senpai?" Junpei soon asked, wondering if the reception died or something.

"_And the schedule you were given conflicts with that of the Shadow Operatives I take it?" _Mitsuru eventually replied.

"Oh! Um, yeah exactly." Junpei stuttered back.

A sigh could be heard from the other line._ "Very well. You'll be dismissed from your Shadow Operative responsibilities unless the situation is dire."_

"Yeah, I figured it was stupid of me to try and weasel my way out-…Wait, what now?!" Junpei spat into the receiver. "O-oh, sorry Senpai, I was just, um…"

"_Don't apologize Iori." _Mitsuru said, no doubt smirking on the other end._ "While I am marginally disenchanted that our group is down one reliable fighter, I'm glad to hear that you've found a career that you'll enjoy. Especially one that you've decided to pursue on your own."_

"H-huh…" Junpei had a bit of a hard time believing his ears, but at least it was the good kind of disbelief. "Uh…thanks Senpai."

"_Merci Iori."_ Mitsuru replied in her natural tongue. _"Make sure that your job performance is C'est Magnifique now."_

"I got it Senpai; you can tone down on the French now." Junpei snarked back. With all of that said and done, Junpei flipped his phone closed and set it on the table, and planned to lie on the couch 'till he fell asleep, but when he tilted his head to the side, he saw the door to his old bedroom once again.

He still remembered what was in that room that kept him out, but for whatever reason, his eyes couldn't turn away from it. Neither could his feet, since they practically started moving on their own towards the door. A hand rested on the doorknob, fitzing it around left and right before taking in a breath, closing his eyes shut, and finally opened the door all the way.

When Junpei opened his eyes again, he was greeted by exactly what he expected; the dried bloodstain on the wooden floor left from his dad. Upon first sight, Junpei quickly raised a hand to cover his mouth from feeling his vomit stirring at the back of his throat.

He knelt down near the stain, and slowly lowered his hand towards the stain until his fingertips touched the surface: completely dry. He picked his hand back up, and rubbed his fingers together.

Memories flew in from every direction of his brain now. From first moving to the apartment in Iwatodai, to the hundredth game of 'Dodge the Broken Beer Bottle' they played when Junpei was moving into the dorm, and every fight filled with fucks coming left and right that happened in-between.

Junpei's hand curled into a loose fist, remembering how pissed off he constantly was. Every night after a fight, he felt like he came back from the toughest battle of his life, and returned covered in blood and piss to lick his wounds. Even when the old man wasn't around, just so much as an angry text from him or becoming the underdog of SEES (Even moreso than the actual dog) was enough to rekindle that feeling.

The moments he didn't feel like that as far as he can remember were the times with his best friends in SEES, his true love Chidori, and most recently, with Seicho.

Junpei stood back up, gently pressing his fingertips against his forehead. Suddenly, he had a better understanding on Maki's words about anger.

His eyelids were already halfway closed though, as a whole wave of drowsiness seemed to coat him from head to toe. With a glance to the left, he spotted his old bed, with the pillows perfectly aligned at the top, and the sheets even tucked into the sides. Before Junpei could wonder how his bed was so damn clean, he lifted all of the sheets up and laid right on the mattress, letting his head sink right into the comfy pillow. In but a few seconds, he fell asleep to the silent rhythm of his own heartbeat.

* * *

_**Puke spewed from the black wolf's mouth, its vomit filled with swirls of blood.**_

_**One ear had been chewed up, a front leg was nearly rendered to bones,**_

_**and patches of fur were ripped away to show the deep gashes on the skin.**_

_**The white wolf snarled and barked,**_

_**even with reopened wounds**_

_**and ceased to stop for as long as the black wolf was in sight.**_

_**In a frustrated growl,**_

_**the black wolf ran off into the forest,**_

_**as the white wolf finally hushed, and trotted along.**_

_**The black wolf would return as soon as it was healed,**_

_**just as the fog that shrouded all would always stay, no matter how much it thinned.**_

_**But the white wolf still stood, walked, and breathed.**_

_**It came to a stop at the tallest cliff there was,**_

_**with the sight of a magnificent lake, as the mist danced upon the water's surface.**_

_**The obsidian lips on the wolf's face ever so slightly curled into a smile,**_

_**right before letting out a haunting howl of everlasting beauty.**_

* * *

_May 19, 2010_

A set of fiddling fingers drummed on the many baseballs in the plastic crate as Junpei sat on one of the various benches placed around the school field, being the early bird again. As such, he had a quick perplexed look when he heard the heavy doors to the school building opening up, and a young girl walking through them.

Upon a second look at her, the young girl was Seicho, and Junpei's surprise turned to glee.

"Seicho!" Junpei happily called out with a wave to her, while Seicho came running towards him with the biggest smile on her face.

Upon where she didn't notice the smooth rock in the middle of the field, and soon fell right in the middle of the diamond with a face-full of dirt.

"ACK!" Junpei went into a small panic, and rushed right to Seicho's side to help her back up. "You okay Seicho? You didn't get scraped or cut anywhere, did ya?"

"Y-yeah, I'm okay." Seicho said once her mouth was free of dust and dirt that got in there, and stood back up smiling. "Thanks for helping me though."

Junpei couldn't help but chuckle, and smiled right back at her. "No problem, I'm just relieved that you're oka-" He didn't finish his sentence though, for he was interrupted by something lightly bopping him on the nose; said something being a baseball that a grinning Seicho was holding in her hand.

"AH CURSES!" Junpei bellowed with both arms up in the air and his hands shaking in utter defeat. "FOILED BY MY OWN SCHEME!"

Meanwhile, Seicho started laughing her head off at all of the sheer hamminess that was taking place.

Junpei soon joined in on the laughing as well, once he finished his burst of overacting. "What're ya doing here so early though Seicho? Don't tell me you're that excited now are ya?"

The edge of Seicho's mouth twitched a bit. "Well…yeah! Of course I am!" She responded with a quick smile.

Junpei however, didn't smile back; not after noticing that quick wince. "Is something still wrong?" He asked is a soft tone of voice, and squatted down next to her as well.

When Seicho was asked that, her smile soon faded, and Miss Gloomy who's Best Friends with the Floor was starting to make a comeback. "…My Mom and Dad were fighting a lot earlier, so Mom drove me here early…Dad's just given up."

"Given up?" Junpei asked. From the sound of it, her dad giving up hadn't been a good thing liked he wished it could be.

Seicho nodded. "…Given up on me." Alongside her desolate tone, her hands started to curl, and even shake.

Junpei wanted to say at least something to cheer her back up; maybe a 'At least you can play baseball now, right?' or a 'Well, it's good that your mom's helping you out.' but he didn't. Instead, he put a hand on Seicho's shoulder, and once she raised her head back up, kept perfect eye contact with her moistened eyes.

"…I'm sorry about all that Seicho." He told her dolefully, before soon showing an honest smile. "But I'm glad you were willing to tell me."

Despite Seicho's trembling hands and soggy eyes, she smiled right back at her new Little League coach, and just outright hugged him, complete with burying her face into his chest. At the same time, Junpei hugged her right back, and calmly rubbed her back once again.

"You wanna start off another game then?" He asked her during the hug.

The very minute Seicho heard that question, she pulled herself right out of Junpei's chest and nodded her head right at him with a bright smile. Her eyes were wet and puffy, making her look like a sad panda, but she couldn't care any less.

Junpei let out a chuckle again, and stood back up, with the baseball that Seicho used to 'tag him out' back in his hand and ready to be sent smoking again.

By the time the other kids arrived, the game was already in action, even with the staggering maximum of two people playing. As such, the introductions were instead glazed over for deciding who would be on whose team, and the game only continued from there. It was a bizarre first meet up for a Little League team, but nobody could deny that they had a good time; especially not Junpei himself.

He may not have suddenly become a pro baseball player, or the King of Shadow Slaying, but his life finally started to be looking up.

* * *

Junpei Iori, Persona 3 (C) Atlus


End file.
